Posts Tagged ‘immigrants’

“Oh the weather outside is frightful… but the fire is so delightful… and since we’ve no place to go… Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” As the Christmas carol bellowed out of my car radio, I could hear my children in the backseat excitedly dissecting, exegeting, analyzing, and parsing every comment we had made about what they might get for Christmas this year. (more…)

Growing up as Asian American in a predominantly white neighborhood, I felt like Superman and an ugly duckling rolled into one. On some days, even if I was as good as Superman, I was still an alien. On other days, I felt like an ugly duckling who just wanted to feel at home—that is, home in my own skin. (more…)

This May, I had the opportunity to teach a two-week intensive course in Paris. My students were primarily blue-collar Chinese immigrants. Some work at local restaurants in Chinatown, some work at clothing stores and others have no steady jobs. Some left their families in China and came to Paris in search of a better life. Others came with their families, and are waiting for years and even decades to become legal residents. Most of them have not integrated into the mainstream Paris structure and culture. They live on the margin of society both socially and physically, subject to the rules and regulations of Paris’ government for their survival and welfare. (more…)